Appointment in Berlin (1943)

Since the early 1980s popular German TV journalist and presenter Guido Knopp has unearthed a wealth of new material about the leading figures of the Third Reich. Subsequent to the successful series "Hitler - A Profile" and "Hitler's Henchmen", Guido Knopp and his team continue this significant television analysis of the Nazi period with a series of the six most important German generals. He has spoken to countless contemporaries and eyewitnesses, relatives and friends of these men, and has been given access to documents that until now have been kept under lock and key.

Transfigured Night brings together two outstanding composers associated with Vienna: Joseph Haydn and Arnold Schoenberg. The former is often seen as the oldest representative of the “First Viennese School”, whereas the latter founded the “Second Viennese School”, using the classicism of his predecessors to explore new, atonal musical paths into the twentieth century. By combining Haydn’s two cello concertos (in C-major and D-major) and Schoenberg’s symphonic poem Verklärte Nacht – in the 1943 edition for string orchestra – this album sheds a new, fascinating light on both Viennese masters.

Herbert von Karajan was the most renowned conductor to emerge from Europe in the post-World War II era – and through fortuitous timing throughout his career, and in spite of controversy that dogged his early years, he was the most recorded conductor of the 20th century, and is likely to remain one of the most visible (and biggest-selling) conductors well into the 21st century. Born in Salzburg and descended from a family of Greek origin with deep roots in Austria – including scholars and physicians in Vienna and Salzburg – he was a music prodigy, playing the piano at three and playing his first recital a year later.

"Les Indispensables de Diapason - Diapason's Selections" is a series in which Diapason, a world-renowned French magazine specializing in classical music, selects historically great performances of masterpieces that shine in music history, remasters them, and reprints them. The 173rd volume of the series is a collection of orchestral works by Hungarian composer Bartók, who was also active as a concert pianist and ethnomusicologist!

"Les Indispensables de Diapason - Diapason's Selections" is a series in which Diapason, a world-renowned French magazine specializing in classical music, selects historically great performances of masterpieces that shine in music history, remasters them, and reprints them. The 173rd volume of the series is a collection of orchestral works by Hungarian composer Bartók, who was also active as a concert pianist and ethnomusicologist!